Trio Going on Thirty
by HotaruKat
Summary: Everyone turns thiry eventually, even the Mabudachi Trio. Their reasons are different, but none of them is really happy on their birthday. Thankfully, Ayame, Shigure, and Hatori can rely on each other when they are down.
1. Chapter 1

**Trio Going on Thirty**

**Author**: Hotarukat  
**Rating**: R, just to be safe because of hints of threesomeness

**Summary**: Everyone turns thirty eventually, even the members of the Mabudachi Trio. Each of their birthdays. Each of their reactions.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Fruits Basket and whatever I do with the characters, I do for fun with no profit.

**A/N**: I have no idea when Shigure's birthday is in comparison to the others. I wrote them as Shigure, Hatori, and Ayame in order from oldest to youngest. (It was funny for me to think of Shigure as the oldest, even if only by a little.)

**A Particular Day in April**

All of his silent prayers hadn't kept the sun from rising. From his bed, Shigure could just see the first rays peek over the trees, and, in a futile attempt to block out the light, he turned over to face the wall and pulled the blankets over his head. Lack of oxygen almost immediately forced the dog back out again into the horrible day, the one that would change his life forever in all of the worst ways imaginable.

Today Shigure turned thirty.

Shigure sat up, throwing his blankets onto the floor. He had a look of utter defeat on his face as he glanced at the clock. Five thirty-three. His young life had ended five hours ago, and all hope for miracles had disappeared. After thoroughly pinching himself, Shigure decided with disgust that it wasn't worth getting up and curled back up on his blanket-less bed. A few more hours of sleep couldn't hurt him today. If anything, he wanted time to go faster. As the minutes crawled by, however, Shigure slowly realized that the universe as a whole would do him no favors today. Sleep eluded him, and time still didn't go backwards, no matter how much he wished it with all his birthday wish might.

xxx

About two hours later, Shigure woke up with a start. Surprised, he sat up and checked the clock again. Seven fifteen. Shigure sighed and admitted defeat as soon as he smelled the sweet scents of Tohru's baking waft in from the kitchen. He rose sleepily to meet the terrible day. Visions of high school girls danced through his head as he made his way downstairs, and, with a metaphorical tear, Shigure realized that now he would truly be lecherous in his teenage desires.

Yuki and Tohru greeted him when he arrived in the kitchen.

"Happy Birthday, Shigure!" Tohru smiled, and it took all of Shigure's strength not to grimace. He glanced at the homemade cake on the table. At least they had abstained from using the correct amount of candles to decorate it.

"Would you like something other than cake for breakfast? I know cake isn't really a nutritious breakfast choice…" Tohru trailed off, and Shigure suddenly realized he had been glaring at the cake.

"Cake would be wonderful! I just can't believe you went to so much trouble for poor old me…Thank you so much, Tohru," Shigure said and flinched. He _was_ old now. Yuki was blessedly quiet, and only Tohru's buzzing as she cut a piece of cake and handed it to him reminded Shigure this was real.

After a few moments of eating in silence, Yuki finally looked up from his cake and stated matter-of-factly, "You're not taking this very well."

Shigure faked nonchalance and waved his fork around dramatically. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Hatori said you wouldn't want any recognition of your birthday, but this is ridiculous. You're acting like you are dying."

"I most certainly am not. Tohru, am I being moody?"

"Oh no, of course not!"

Shigure nodded and flashed his best smile to put Tohru at ease and annoy Yuki a little. "Well, if you don't mind," Shigure murmured as he pushed his empty plate away. "The birthday boy, who stayed up far too late last night finishing a chapter, would like to go back to bed."

"I don't see how that would be different from any other day of the week," Yuki said snidely to Shigure's back after he got up. Shigure let the barb slide off him like water and headed back to his room to celebrate the holiday the way _he_ wanted: asleep.

As soon as Shigure was out of the room, Yuki caught Tohru giving him the tiniest reproving look. He sighed. "He needs to hear that. Life is staying the same. Everyone turns thirty eventually."

Tohru's brows slowly unknotted, and she sighed too.

"I guess you're right."

After absentmindedly patting Tohru's hand, Yuki grabbed another piece of cake from the platter. "Don't worry about him. He just needs some sense pounded into him." Yuki smirked while he stabbed his cake with relish. For some reason, that did _not _ease Tohru's worries.

xxx

Shigure awoke to a dull ringing. He pulled his blankets over his head and willed the sound to stop, but the noise continued on as if to spite him. Shigure glanced at the clock from under his covers: one thirty. After silently thanking his biological ability to sleep in, the dog sat up and rubbed his head. Then the sound of the telephone finally registered, and Shigure jumped up to answer.

"Hello, Shigure." Shigure's mood brightened slightly at the sound of Hatori's voice. But it soured as soon as he realized Hatori was still a youthful twenty-nine. At least the doctor wouldn't rub it in, Shigure told himself.

"You're just the person to make this day better," Shigure said truthfully.

"I was hoping you could do me a favor."

"What kind of favor?" Shigure asked, not sure whether to be pleased or annoyed at the doctor's lack of a 'happy birthday' or even a semi-cheerful tone of voice.

"Kisa has gotten ill at school, and I'd appreciate it if you could escort her home for me. Her mother is also sick, and I can't get away at the moment."

"Well, who says I'm not busy?" Shigure asked incredulously.

"I'm sure wallowing in your birthday misery is a full time job, but this favor would be very much appreciated."

"I'm not wallowing…"

"_Please_ do this for me," Hatori stressed, and Shigure realized that arguing would not work with Hatori in one of these moods.

"You don't have to sound so annoyed, Hari," Shigure whined. "It's a rough day."

"I know."

"No, you don't," Shigure muttered and rolled his eyes.

"Drop her off with me when you get to the main grounds. I'll see you soon."

The phone clicked dead, and Shigure marveled at Hatori's practiced ease in ignoring his complaints.

xxx

The trip to the school was fast enough. Shigure made it there in ten minutes flat; he had walked as quickly as possible so he could just go back home and crawl into bed again. Once in the lobby of the school, Shigure paused, realizing he wasn't sure where to go from there since he had never been to the nurse's office before. He looked around for the main office, but instead he spotted a girl walking past him who was obviously trying not to stare.

"Excuse me, miss. Could you point me in the direction of the nurse's office?" He didn't even bother to put his best smile on. He was in a hurry; his bed was waiting.

The girl flushed when Shigure spoke and stopped dead in her tracks, turning around slowly with her eyes fixed on the books she was carrying. "It's just around the corner." She motioned vaguely to her left with her head and flicked her eyes up to Shigure's for a split second. "I'm going there to drop off some homework for a classmate of mine." Her blush turned two shades redder.

Shigure couldn't help but smirk as the girl continued to stand in front of him with her face pink, unsure if he was finished with her or not.

"Well, thank you so much. It's quite a pleasure to receive help from such a beautiful girl! Since we're headed in the same direction, would you like me to help you with that load?"

The girl looked taken aback, but she hesitantly handed the books to Shigure anyway. "Thank you," she whispered.

"Anything for a lovely lady," he beamed. "Now if you don't mind leading the way?"

She nodded and scampered in front of him. Shigure took a moment to admire the view, and when the girl turned to look at him over her shoulder, she turned pink again and looked quickly away. After turning a corner, they were inside the nurse's office. Shigure glanced around and quickly noticed Kisa sitting on the edge of a cot. She saw him too and gave a small smile. Then Kisa looked to the girl standing awkwardly next to Shigure.

"Hello, Kisa," Shigure's guide said. "I brought your homework down for you." She paused and looked at Shigure. "Well, this gentleman helped me carry it."

A slight look of surprise passed over Kisa's face, but it was gone in an instant.

"Thank you, Tomoko." Shigure noticed Kisa's voice was quieter than usual, and she was usually fairly soft-spoken. "This is my cousin Shigure Sohma. I'm glad you two met." Kisa coughed dryly after she spoke and quickly took a drink from the cup of water next to her.

Tomoko nodded and, after thanking Shigure again, quickly left the nurse's office.

Shigure placed the books next to Kisa and looked down at her. "Feeling a bit under the weather?"

"Thank you for picking me up, Grandpa Shigure," Kisa said with a tiny smirk before taking another drink of water.

Shigure didn't think he liked Kisa's sudden use of Hiro's sense of humor, but, as much as he hated to admit it, she was cute enough to get away with it.

xxx

"Thank you again, Cousin Shigure," Kisa said when they finally made it to Hatori's porch. Shigure was relieved she had dropped the 'grandpa' business.

"No problem, sweetheart. You just get better."

Both of them jumped in surprise when Kisa's backpack began to play the 'Mogeta' theme.

"Oh, it's my cell phone. Hiro probably wants to make sure I'm okay."

"Answer it. I'll get Hatori for you."

Shigure slid open the door and heard Kisa answer her phone. Hatori, who was sitting at his desk, turned around in his chair.

"I hope it wasn't too much trouble for you," he said with the smallest hint of actual concern.

"It was a delightful outing, actually," Shigure grinned.

Hatori rolled his eyes, but then he smiled too. "I hoped it would be. If it's one thing that brightens your mood, it's high schoo…" Hatori stopped mid-sentence when Kisa came in from outside, closing her cell with a flip of the wrist.

"It was Hiro," she said in a quiet whisper and then looked at Shigure. "He was complaining that all of the girls in class are suddenly talking about my handsome cousin."

"Make sure you tell them I'm too old for them," Shigure said dramatically with an eyebrow waggle.

"Come here, Kisa. Let me check your throat," Hatori had once again decided to ignore Shigure while he examined Kisa, but Shigure simply waited anyway.

"You should be fine in a day or two. Don't talk too much and eat plenty of ice cream to make your throat feel better," Hatori said, smiling at Kisa. She smiled back, muttered another thank you to each of them, and left with a bow.

"You were too old for high school girls ten years ago," Hatori said to Shigure once Kisa was out of earshot.

"Oh, you're ruining my fun! The girl I met was enchanted with me!" Shigure sang.

"Well, she should be," Hatori said evenly while returning to the paperwork on his desk.

Shigure rushed over to nudge Hatori's shoulder. "Aww, you do care."

Hatori stopped reading just long enough to glance at Shigure. "Happy Birthday, _old man_."


	2. Chapter 2

**Trio Going on Thirty**

**Author**: Hotarukat  
**Rating**: R, just to be safe because of hints of threesomeness

**Summary**: Everyone turns thirty eventually, even the members of the Mabudatchi Trio. Each of their birthdays. Each of their reactions.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Fruits Basket and whatever I do with the characters, I do for fun with no profit.

**A/N**: I have no idea when Hatori's birthday is in comparison to the others. I wrote them as Shigure, Hatori, and Ayame in order from oldest to youngest. (It was funny for me to think of Shigure as the oldest.)

Fifiteen Days after that Particular Day in April

Birthdays were not something Hatori looked forward to. His reasons didn't stem from a fear of turning old (even at the ripe old age of thirty.) He simply preferred to pretend that it was the same as all other days. Even though Hatori never wanted to forget, birthdays made it too easy to remember.

The doctor looked down at the single envelope sitting in his lap. He had carefully read through all of the other pieces of mail, which consisted of various bills, and medical documents he had requested, but he had missed the small letter until it was the only thing unopened.

"Kana," he whispered, reading the name neatly written on the return address. Then he winced and dropped the letter onto his desk as if it caused him physical pain to keep holding it. Hatori knew he should have expected this. Kana always remembered to send a card for every holiday, especially birthdays. It was simply part of her personality not to forget to send a warm-hearted greeting for a special occasion. Hatori sighed and grabbed the letter opener to slit the top of the envelope.

Once opened, the card was not any different from the various other cards he had received from her since she married. It had a picture of a kitten sitting in front of a birthday cake and licking frosting off its whiskers. Inside, underneath the printed "You can't have your cake and eat it too," Kana had handwritten: "I think you can! Have a wonderful birthday, Dr. Sohma!" and signed her and her husband's name with "love from both of us."

Hatori put the card down, and after only pausing for a second, he pushed it into the wastebasket beside his desk. A quick glance at Kana's picture on his bookshelf, however, caused Hatori to reach into the wastebasket and pull the card out and place it beside the picture before he started working again.

XXX

"Hari is going to be so surprised!"

"Not if you don't keep quiet!"

Hatori looked up from his reading as soon as he heard Shigure and Ayame's hushed voices drift in from outside. For a brief moment he considered just sitting there to wait for whatever sort of interesting surprise (or annoyance) they had planned for his birthday, but curiosity forced him out of his seat. He walked to his open porch door, feeling something like relief unknot in his stomach at the coming distraction, but that feeling quickly disappeared as soon as he saw no one was outside.

"HARI!" Ayame, who had glided in silently from the other entrance, wrapped his arms around Hatori from behind and rested his head on his back. "Happy Birthday," he mumbled into Hatori's shirt.

Shigure trotted up next to Hatori and poked him in the side. "Did we surprise you?"

"No," Hatori said evenly.

"Yes, we did," Shigure replied slyly. "You were expecting us to come from outside. Welcome to the thirty-year-old club!"

Ayame finally unlocked himself from Hatori and squeezed between Shigure and the doctor to stand in front of them.

"We brought you something!" he beamed, sticking the wrapped present underneath Hatori's nose. "Open it! Open it!"

"Yes, open it, open it!" Shigure joined in on Ayame's childlike chorus. Hatori rolled his eyes, snatching the present as the dog and the snake cheered ecstatically and moving to sit down on the ledge of the porch.

"It was Ayame's idea," Shigure said proudly, seating himself on Hatori's right.

Ayame sat down on his left. "'Gure, you give me too much credit!"

Hatori's fingers slipped beneath a crease, and he carefully tore the gold wrapping paper, deliberately taking as long as possible. Beside him, Ayame and Shigure held their breath.

"Faster!" Ayame pleaded.

"Hari always likes taking his time," Shigure leered.

Hatori ignored both of them and finally peeled the wrapper paper away, leaving a gold picture frame in his hands that showcased a photo with Shigure and Ayame arm in arm in front of the lake house, jovially giving peace signs with their free hands.

"Thank you," Hatori said slowly, almost making it sound like a question.

"I don't think he understands, 'Gure." Ayame rested his head on Hatori's shoulder. "Perhaps you should explain."

"Better yet, I'll show him!" Shigure jumped up and trotted into Hatori's office. As he waited, Hatori ran an absent hand through Ayame's hair, causing the snake to hum happily and nuzzle against him.

Shigure returned in an instant and, after pausing for a second, pulled Kana's picture from behind his back as he sat down.

"…We thought it was about time you added some other pictures to your office," he said, holding Kana's picture next to theirs, which Hatori still held uncertainly.

Hatori stopped stroking Ayame's hair and glared warningly at Shigure.

"Hari, we're not suggesting you get rid of this picture. It's just that…"

"Just because you never want to forget your happy memories doesn't mean you can't make new ones!" Ayame chimed in after a moment. "Really, 'Gure, I thought you would be able to explain better than I could."

Shigure smiled weakly. "Writer's block, I guess."

"I suppose you saw Kana's card." Hatori stood up after shrugging Ayame off his shoulder.

"Kana's card?" Ayame looked at Shigure in confusion. "Why didn't you say something?" he shot to Hatori, who took Kana's picture out of Shigure's hands and began walking back into his office. Distressed, Ayame scrambled up and followed, leaving Shigure on the porch alone.

"I'm sorry," Ayame apologized to Hatori's back as the doctor leaned over his desk. "I hope I didn't make things worse."

Hatori ignored him as he placed Kana's picture gently back on his desk, but he still held onto the picture of Shigure and Ayame and simply looked at it. Ayame snuck to Hatori's side, craning his neck to see what had caught Hatori's attention.

"I'll…just take it back," Ayame whispered and reached for the photo.

Hatori moved his arm out of Ayame's grasp.

"I don't know where to put it," he said simply and looked down at Ayame. After managing a careful smile, the snake took the picture when Hatori offered it to him and placed it beside Kana's.

"It looks much better this way, don't you think?" Hatori asked quietly.

"Yes, it certainly does," Ayame agreed, leaning back and admiring his work.

A second later, Shigure came in and slung his arms around the two other juunishi. "Everything better?" he asked with a smile.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Shigure," Hatori said and spared a glance to the dog. Shigure shook his head and released Hatori and Ayame.

"I think I need a cigarette. Hatori?"

"If you want some of mine the answer is no."

"But…"

"You do know that smoking causes premature wrinkles," Ayame pointed out distastefully. Shigure simply waved the comment off cheerfully.

As the group moved toward the porch once again, Hatori and Shigure exchanged a look before turning to Ayame.

"You're next, you know," Shigure said darkly.

"Next?"

"All of us turn thirty eventually," Hatori agreed mildly before taking out two cigarettes and lighting them. Shigure took his happily, and Ayame remained surprisingly quiet.

Birthdays were not something Hatori looked forward to. To him, they should be like any other day, just as meaningless and with little chance of better things. He didn't want to remember; he didn't want to forget. But, most of all, Hatori didn't want to hope, and he realized how hard it was to remain realistic with the dog and the snake beside him.

"I want a picture of all of us," Ayame said suddenly and pulled his cell phone out of a pocket.

Shigure shrugged noncommittally and slid closer to Hatori. Ayame sat down on Hatori's other side and smushed himself as close to Hatori as possible, with Shigure following suite so they would fit in the picture. Hatori looked at the cell phone held in front of him.

"Say cheese!" Ayame caroled before the flash went off and Hatori was momentarily blinded.

Hatori knew Ayame would cherish this picture. Ayame always kept everything he loved close to him, even if he couldn't do it physically. It was simply part of his personality not to let anyone he loved down. This picture would be like many Ayame had in his scrapbook, which was decorated with old pieces of his favorite fabrics and detailed the span of their lives together.

Hatori sighed and turned his head to brush his lips over Ayame's cheek.

"Thank you," he whispered. Ayame turned golden eyes on him.

"Would you like a copy?" he asked in a tone that betrayed a hint of confusion.

"Yes."

"Me too!" Shigure raised his hand, and Hatori, deliberately misinterpreting, kissed his cheek as well. Shigure laughed.

"I meant I wanted a copy, but that would work too," he declared with a sultry smirk.

Hatori felt Ayame's lips on his ear and saw Shigure lean toward him before closing his eyes. He knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't help hoping, at least this once.


End file.
